Here is what I promised you, and no, it is NOT what I know, it is what I DO NOT know. I’m not magic, and have no new measurements that were used to make ICONOCLAST. I have ears (older ones, even), common sense and a strict adherence to the thought that all cables need to meet superior agreed upon measurements…AND incorporate geometries that also improve in use improvements. Knowns prove unknowns as you can see below.
HOW WHAT WE KNOW TELLS USE WHAT WE DON’T KNOW.
Designing cables is about target electrical. R, L and C are the major three that support the balance of targets. Some targets are reached to make cable’s behave more uniform across the frequent y range such as COHERENCE.
What does that mean, exactly? The definition of coherence isn’t related to TIME, but to a consistent way of thinking, or doing something. We audiophiles tend to think of it a TME variable but it really isn’t. The first, and most used, definition is;
1 : the quality or state of cohering: such as. a. : systematic or logical connection or consistency. The essay as a whole lacks coherence. - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherence
ALL ICONOCLAST cable uses a “coherent” way of thinking when it comes to conductor size and number philosophy; use the smallest wire possible to reach the recommended CMA wire area for DCR. This force caused several unique geometry’s to be developed to BALANCE R, L and C to the “coherent” way of thinking about conductor size and what it does. What exactly is that?
We all know about skin depth. But, we need to look at it differently with audio as it is really ONLY impacting the very upper most frequencies based on the numbers, from proven equations. We tend to loose focus on the effects at audio…and put into proper focus as to what we KNOW is happening, the USE of the cables say there is a lot we DO NOT know is happening. Facts have to be collected and held till scientific principals change them…it has happened but this is the scientific process; hold as valid until we prove otherwise with repeatable processes.
Skin depth is defined as the point at which the current INSIDE the wire is 37% the magnitude of that same frequency on the SURFACE of the wire. The SIZE of the wire is irrelevant as a BIG wire has the same skin depth at a given frequency as a SMALL wire assuming the 37% value is reached at the exact wire center. If the wire is SMALLER than the calculated skin depth, that frequency will have a current value GREATER than the 37% number.
The COHERENT way of thinking is to mitigate skin effects so ALL frequencies are DIFFUSION coupled 100% through the wire. You can’t do that as skin effect will ALWAYS have some degree of exponential decay through the wire as frequencies go up. Skin effect is caused by the self inductance of a wire to make higher and higher frequencies look like the “inside” of the wire is not conductive, and the current flows outside of that region…and more and more into the wire’s skin.
Using an industry accepted calculation, that you can play with - http://www.rfcafe.com/references/calculators/skin-depth-calculator.htm
Skin depth at 20kHz (0.020 MHz) = 18214.0 x 10-6inches (~18.2 x 10-3inches, or mils)
Skin depth at 10kHz (0.010 MHz) = 125759.0 x 10-6inches (~12.6 x 10-3inches, or mils)
Skin depth at 5kHz (0.005 MHz) = 36428.8 10-6inches (~36.4 x 10-3inches, or mils)
This is important to see, because the effects of skin effect drop off SIGNIFICANTLY below 20 kHz. To force current coherence at 20 kHz, using smaller wire, works really well BECAUSE the current diffuses through the wire rather quickly at audio. Skin depth is half as effective at 10K as it is 20K.
This is why a 40u-inch coating of silver has tremendous workability benefits soldering with WBT silver solder but the actual effect at audio can easily be debated based on the numbers. ALL of the current at 20 kHz is not in the “skin” of the wire, just a small overall portion of the current so the silver layer can only effect what’s within that layer…not much by the numbers. Bright sounds are not centered at 10K or 20K, but 5-10K region. This is why the silver layer can’t really be supported as sounding “bright”. It does have a sound, but it isn’t WHY a cable sounds bright. We know the calculation but we still do not know the REASON why a silver layer changes the sound.
Removing skin effect by using small wire so we have “the same” coherent current topology in the cable ALSO has benefit to LOWER INDUCTANCE with more complex phase cancellation geometry.
A single bonded pair used in the ICONOCLAST speaker cable has 0.016 uH/foot inductance measured as a “cable”. That same bonded pair used in ICONOCLAST used in the weave assembly has 0.008-uH/foot inductance. How? Different paper for that but the short story is you can arrange the fields to cancel, and lower inductance. Inductance is connected to PHASE, lower inductance lowers phase. QED has a nice paper on cable calculations that shows this, "Sounds of Science”.
Now lets look at VELOCITY of propagation in audio cables, or any cable using audio frequencies. Does forcing current coherence CHANGE the Vp of the signals in the cable? Id this design or material related or both? Lets look at some numbers that are MEASURED so unknowns are boiled in there for use to find…no one knows the formula for COKE but it sure tastes good!
1313A …23…………0.150………100 / 100………44.20 / 28.5
ICONOCLAST …45…………0.008……….50 / 50……………45.18 / 25.1
If we look, at an impedance SWEEP of these two cables we see the below;
(see the impedance trace on speaker cables at iconoclastcable.com)
From the IMPEDANCE we can calculate the Vp for any frequency using the MIL-C-17D impedance equation that uses a CONSTANT and cap and Vp.
1313A (10-20K) 100= 101670 / 23 X Vp, Vp = 44.20%
1313A (1K) 155= 101670 / 23 X Vp, Vp = 28.5%
This uses solid olefin dielectric @ 66% Vp at RF.
ICONOCLAST (10-20K) 50= 101670 / 45 X Vp, Vp = 45.18%
ICONOCLAST (10-20K) 90= 101670 / 45 X Vp, Vp = 25.1%
ICONOCLAST use solid FEP dielectric @ 69% Vp at RF.
We should see about a 3% or so difference, but not much more.
The measurement and calculation shoes that although the current is COHERENT in ICONOCLAST, the Vp at various frequencies it near, I say it is, the same unless 3.4% at 1 kHz is somehow significant. What we know, is that you can’t hear what is the same if this is all there is to it. Are we hearing the INDUCTANCE provided with the smaller wire sizes that improve current coherence? Possibly, except that wire BUNCHED of the same size (I made that cable) in a wad with higher inductance similar to 1313A did sound better. If inductance were all there was to it there would be no change. Again, we have to hang onto the KNOWNS, Vp seems the same with smaller wires, but we still need to QUESTION the VALUE and how it is obtained.
Vp is the superposition of ALL moving electrons in a cable forming the electromagnetic field, a bulk number. Are the values that make that average Vp skewed differently with small wires than larger wire? The closer a copper atom is to the wire surface or inner regions the more the Vp on that electron will vary if theory holds as to how dielectrics work. DISTANCE matters.
As of now I have no repeatable and peer reviewed REASONS why smaller wires work so much better outside of inductance…but I can triangulate “same as” low inductance on one larger wire per polarity that sounds worse. There is more to it. It doesn’t show in Vp calculations or inductance.
ICONOCLAST uses what works under current physics, but there is also regions of audible change I can not account for…as there are in ALL cables.
I chose a different set of BALANCES than others and kept the philosophy COHERENT using more and smaller wires as you and I can listen and attest to the improvements. I know what I know to make the cables, and what I don’t know is in there, too, sorry to say. I will remain driven by the numbers we can verify, but I won’t toss geometry’s that sound better that meet those agreed upon measured standards. Getting difference in there that can not be accounted for provide a subject to further dissect for answers.
--------------------------------------------added later as some didn’t get my long winder analysis, as to what was proven above, that Vp is MATERIAL dependent only, and will vary significantly with frequency…the DESIGN does not matter, just the material.
What do we know? This quick set of calculations and measurements shows how a dielectric behaves through the audio band, olefin and FEP TEFLON® to be precise.
The Velocity of Propagation is a property of the DIELECTRIC material. It does not matter what configuration the material is in on a wire, coaxial, Ethernet, Audio you name it, if it is the same the Vp at frequency points will calculate to be the SAME through the audio band. No passive properties will change the swept Vp.
If we “add” air, as the interconnect cable design does, the Vp is a GROUP dielectric of the AIR and the PLASTIC under the shield. But if the FINAL dielectric value of 87%, in the case if ICONOCLAST XLR and RCA interconnect, the Vp properties with respect to frequency will be, too.
This also tells you something about 8-ohm audio cables, IMPOSSIBLE! We now can see that the MATERIAL defines the Vp through audio, and that it is far from stable. We know for sure 8-ohm audio cables are simply not true UNNLESS they use a plastic or other material dielectric that is dead flat through the audio band (let me know what that is!).
I’ve measured several so-called 8-ohm audio cables and yes folks, they were not 8-ohms ANYWHERE in the audio band, not even close.
Impedance is 101670/(Vp x Capacitance). Capacitance is also material dependant, but it is dead flat THROUGH the audio band to RF and the Vp clearly is not. Any like set of measurement will show this to be the case.
So we DO KNOW that Vp is MATERIAL dependant and nonlinear, and CAPACITANCE is design AND material dependant, both, and is linear once the design is established through the audio band.
Galen
Can I be your friend Mr. Badbeef?